Related articles

Most newspapers, including this one, fund and belong to the Independent Press Standards Organisation, which has not sought recognition so would have to pay plaintiffs' costs.

Conservative MP Damian Collins, who chairs the Commons' Media Select Committee, said it would harm the ability of the press to hold those in power to account and could create a "new industry" of lawyers inciting people to sue.

The Government is also consulting on whether to go ahead with Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry, set up in 2011 into phone-hacking, to focus on wrongdoing by press and police.

GETTY

Section 40 was added to the Crime and Courts Act after the Leveson Inquiry

A decision awaits the result of a judicial review claim by hacking victims and a news website against the decision to consult rather than go ahead with the two measures.

In a Commons debate today, Home Office minister Brandon Lewis said that given the extent of criminal investigations into illegal press practices like phone hacking, and reforms made to press and police after Leveson Part 1, the Government had to consider if it was "appropriate, proportionate and in the public interest" to proceed with Leveson Part 2.

GETTY

Implementing Section 40 would mean newspapers have to pay the legal fees of anyone who sues them

How can you help?

The Government is running a consultation which closes on Tuesday 10 January at 5pm - and which you can contribute to.